#( john bernstein. )

[exhausted-think-bucket]

The Beatles and Leonard Bernstein

Daddy loved the Beatles, too, which made me particularly happy. In the swimming pool the following summer, he came up with a third part to “Love Me Do,” so that he, Alexander, and I could sing the song together in three-part harmony, right there in the corner of the deep end. On one of his Young People’s Concerts, Daddy explained the A-B-A structure of sonata form by singing a Beatles song. Oh, how the girls in the audience squirmed and squealed as he accompanied himself on piano, singing “And I Love Her” in his not-so-McCartneyesque voice! He must have known he was onto something, because he began regularly incorporating the Beatles, and other pop music, in his Young People’s Concerts, to illustrate his various points. It kept the kids in the audience interested, just as it had for Alexander and me. (We, and later Nina, were in effect the ongoing guinea pigs for Daddy’s Young People’s Concert ideas.) John Lennon was Daddy’s favorite Beatle, as he was mine. We were both enchanted by Lennon’s book of poetry, “In His Own Write,” and pored over it together. Daddy invented a singing game for Alexander and me to play with him while the three of us lay wedged into the hammock under the big maple tree after dinner. We would invent a round, à la “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” using Lennon’s poem “The Moldy Moldy Man.” Whoever started the round got to choose what kind of melody it would be: sad, perky, waltz, military. After the first line — “I’m a moldy moldy man…” — the second person had to come in, echoing person number one. Then the third person would come in. The fun of the game was, of course, that you couldn’t possibly repeat the line you’d just heard while simultaneously listening for the next one. It was deliciously hopeless, and a raucous shambles every time — always punctuated at the end by person number three dolefully singing the last line all alone after the other two had finished: “… I’m such a humble Joe.” Eventually, word got back to John Lennon — or to his manager or press agent or somebody — that Leonard Bernstein was thinking about possibly setting some of the “In His Own Write” poems to music. This led to Daddy being invited to meet Lennon backstage during a dress rehearsal for “The Ed Sullivan Show.” It was by now the summer of 1965, and the Beatles were returning to the U.S. to make their highly anticipated second Ed Sullivan appearance. Naturally, our father asked if he could bring his two older children with him to the rehearsal.

- "Famous Father Girl", Jamie Bernstein - 2018

Here is Leonard Bernstein being enchanted by The Beatles, in Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution, 1967.

Even though his viewpoint is understandably informed (and thus imo limited) by his classical background, he appreciated pop music a lot more than others his age at the time did.

I love everything about this, but honestly, to hear my favorite 20th century composer comparing Paul McCartney to Schumann is just...wild.

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Above: Jerome Robbins, John Kriza, Harold Lang, Janet Reed, and Muriel Bentley in the original production of Robbins's Fancy Free. Photo: Maurice Seymour via Newsweek

On April 18, 1944, Jerome Robbins's first ballet, Fancy Free, premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House.

From the moment the action begins, with the sound of a juke box wailing behind the curtain, the ballet is strictly young wartime America, 1944. The curtain rises on a street corner with a lamp post, a side street bar, and New York skyscrapers pricked out with the crazy pattern of lights, making a dizzying backdrop. Three sailors explode onto the stage. They are on 24-hour shore leave in the city and on the prowl for girls. The tale of how they meet first one, then a second girl, and how they fight over them, lose them, and in the end take off after still a third, is the story of the ballet.

That synopsis was written by Leonard Bernstein, the composer of the ballet's score. He was 25 at the time (the same age as Robbins) and an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Just a few months earlier, he had made a splash as a last-minute substitution for Bruno Walter at a Philharmonic concert, jump-starting his career.

Above: photo from Haglund's Heel

The ballet featured John Kriza, Harold Lang and Jerome Robbins himself as the three sailors, Muriel Bentley, Janet Reed, and Shirley Ecki as the girls, and Rex Cooper as the seen-it-all bartender. The great critic Edwin Denby observed that the ballet:

was so big a hit that the young participants all looked a little dazed as they took their bows. But besides being a smash hit, Fancy Free is a very remarkable comedy piece. ... Its pantomime and its dances are witty, exuberant, and at every moment they feel natural.

Above: Jerome Robbins, Michael Kidd, John Kriza, and Shirley Eckl performing the ballet in London Photo: Baron via MPR News

Over the years, Fancy Free has entered the repertory of countless ballet companies in the U.S. and abroad. It was so popular that Robbins and Bernstein were persuaded to turn it into a Broadway musical: On the Town. It debuted on December 28 of the same year, which seems astonishing considering how long it takes to create contemporary musicals. Bernstein wrote the music, Betty Comden and Adolph Green the book and lyrics, and Robbins choreographed it—the first in a long line of musical theater triumphs for him. Confidence in the show was so high that MGM bought the film rights before it opened, a common practice now, but not then. It was the first film set in the city to be actually filmed there (in part) instead of on a Hollywood soundstage.

[mariocki]

Cape Fear (1991)

"Let's get something straight here. I spent fourteen years in an eight by nine cell, surrounded by people who were less than human. My mission in that time was to become more than human. You see? Granddaddy used to handle snakes in church, Granny drank strychnine. I guess you could say I had a leg up, genetically speaking."

[wildflower-otome]

Mistonia no Kibou Official Wallpapers

[bookmaven]

LORD OF LIGHT by Roger Zelazny (New York: Doubleday, 1967) Cover by Howard Bernstein.

LORD OF LIGHT was awarded the 1968 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and nominated for a Nebula Award in the same category. Two chapters from the novel were published as novelettes in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction – "Dawn" in April 1967, and "Death and the Executioner" in June 1967.

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (New York: 1967) Cover by Grey Morrow • (New York: Avon, 1969) Cover by Ron Walotsky.

(London: Panther, 1971) Cover by Michael Johnson. • (London: Panther, 1973) Cover by Bob Haberfield

• (London: Methuen, 1986) Cover by John Harris. • (London: Gollalncz, 1999) Cover by Fred Gambino

. • (New York: HarperCollins, 2004) Cover by Steve Stones. • (China: Beijing Publishing, 2015)

[arokel]

okay here are my very messy john dean thoughts (featuring bonus jeb magruder):

I think the fact that people call Dean specifically a snake/weasel/etc. (and to a certain extent call Magruder a coward) is proof that the watergate cover up WORKED. the tapes we now have access to show that Nixon, Haldeman and Erlichman were masterminding almost every aspect of what went on, and even the things Dean and Magruder thought they were solely responsible for - like Magruder's perjured testimony - did in fact have the Big Three's fingerprints on them as well.

so to me, the fact that 50 years later official watergate histories are still painting Dean as the primary inventor of the cover up, or Magruder as the sole impetus behind his own lies, is a sign that even half a century later we're still buying the White House smear campaign against those who spoke out against it.

like genuinely Haldeman and Erlichman were SO involved and that gets glossed over in favor of quotes about Magruder and Dean's personalities from people like Pat Buchanan or Dwight Chapin who are still to this day bitter about Nixon's resignation and cannot in any way be considered unbiased.

I guess I just don't understand why we have to be parroting the Nixon White House line in the 21st century even with what we now know, you know?

(and yes I call Dean a weasel but it's okay when I do it because it's out of affection <3)

[onlylonelylatino]

Origin recap and the evolution of Cat Girl by John Rosenberger

[cinemablogs]

undefined

Oscar

Director: John Landis | USA, 1991 Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Marisa Tomei, & Tim Curry

[nerds-yearbook]

Marvel's first entry into the Direct Comic Market was Dazzler 1#. DC comic's first Direct Market comic was Superboy Spactacular 1, with a cover date of March, 1980. The issue was mostly made up of stories reprinted from Superboy 67, 78, 79, 83, and 88. ("The Origin of Superboy's Costume", "The Dreams of Doom", Life on Krypton!", "The One-Man Team!", "The Three Secret Indentities of Superboy", "The Man Who Destroyed Krypton", "The Puzzle of the Disappearing Pitcher!" Superboy Spectacular 1, DC Comic Event)

[nonesuchrecords]

"The winner of five Grammy Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Music, John Adams is one of America's greatest and most performed living composers," BBC Radio 4's This Cultural Life host John Wilson says of his guest on the show. They talk about Adams' life, work, and the influence of Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington, Steve Reich, Charles Dickens, the state of California, and more. You can hear their conversation here.

[weberlifedesign]

Felix Cavaliere Relays Rascal Energy Voicing Joy & Peace

Felix Cavaliere exerts an energetic appeal that has not waned since The Rascals, then known as The Young Rascals, first made an impact on the music scene in 1965 with “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore” followed by “Good Lovin’.” Expressing peace, love, and happiness, the music has had a broad attraction for all ages. Image Courtesy of Felix Cavaliere via Dis Company With his most recent…

[smbhax]

From "Iron Man versus Gargantus!" in Tales of Suspense #40, April 1963. Stan Lee plot, Robert Bernstein script, Jack Kirby pencils, Don Heck inks, Stan Goldberg colors, John Duffy letters.

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

WC: SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #56

WC: SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #56

I remember this issue of SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN as being pretty good, even though it’s been likely decades since I last read it. It headlined another Imaginary Story, editor Mort Weisinger’s way of allowing his writers to work outside of the confines of the tight continuity that he’d established across all of the Superman titles. Imaginary Stories allowed for characters to marry, die,…

[wildflower-otome]

Mistonia no Kibou Ball Outfit Official Icons

[topoet]

Hawes Atomic Wild Side

I added this collection of Hampton Hawes: Three Classic Albums plus, a year or so ago as the iTunes price was right & I love Hampton. When I was living in Sydney, Cape Breton he was my real introduction to jazz that wasn’t fusion. Traditional straight ahead inventive playing & well worth adding to any collection. John Betsch Society: Earth Blossom (1974) – sweet postbop percussion & sax/flute…